Imperfections
by Ongekibou
Summary: Wes thinks about the recent happenings around him, and how in battle, there is never good and evil, simply sides. Takes place during "Ransik Lives", episode 4 of Power Rangers Time Force.


Author's Notes: Upon rewatching PRTF, I decided to start up a series of one-shots, chronicling various stories, hopefully without breaking into an AU. Although, "It Was All a Dream..."

Summary: Wes thinks about morals, the right within the plethora of grays, giving in just to fit alongside everyone else, and a hot painter uniform.

Placement: Takes place during the last scene of "Power Rangers Time Force Episode 4 – Ransik Lives."

Imperfections

I've been mulling over those words.

The dust is no longer a problem. Sure, there's a few spots we've missed, but a job well done, I'd say. Some of the junk was still usable too; a table, chairs... useful. Considering we just spent most of our hard-earned cash on food, it's good we have some basic furniture already.

A mimicked set of morals. That's what I have. All of those Saturday morning TV shows, and specials on PBS helped me out with that. Philips too. Despite his dedication to my father (and who can fault him? It is his job, after all), he's got a great sense of justice. What's wrong, what's right. I can't help but like the man.

Wrong and right was instilled at birth. As well as sometimes 'wrong things can be right', or 'right can be wrong'. Light needs darkness, and all that. But it certainly took me long enough to stand up for something I believed in. Thanks to these guys. I wonder what would have happened if these guys didn't come along?

I got the clothes from a charity shop. I'll admit, hesitantly, that I had never been to one before. To think there's a place where clothes can be bought for free, while some clothes can cost upwards of hundreds-thousands of dollars to buy. What's the point? It's a waste.

My morals tell me, that if something like that can be gotten for free, then why waste it? Put the money you were going to spend on clothes towards a charity, or something like that. Definitely not the route my father would take. If he ever donated money, it would be to his own selfish ends, like for a publicity stunt.

Where will I go now? This life is exciting, thrilling, but it also has a sense of doing something good, something that has to be done, rather than something I simply want to do. I could never go back to blindly following my father. Sure, there's money, but not all great things in life come from being rich. These past few days alone have proved that.

But, is what I'm doing now truly the right thing to do? I'm helping people. I'm saving people. I'm saving the planet, well, Silver Hills at least. But as far as these guys talk, they want to kill Ransik, the one we're battling against. Or at least put him in stasis.

Somehow, I don't want to.

The mutants we've trapped too. Somehow, I don't want them to stay frozen. I mean, what good does it do? The advancements aren't astounding at this point of time, but cryogenics effectively freezes the body, last time I checked. The body isn't active. But the idea of prison is for repenting. What good is it going to do, if the prison in question doesn't allow it?

Mutants, in the future. Supposedly a mistake. But just because they're imperfect, they get shunned? My new-found friends. I like them. I broke the mold for them, even if it's not a massive change. But they shun him too? He might have gone down a bad road, but there's always redemption.

I'm willing to bet, that any mutant, any mutant at all in the future, is immediately sent to be frozen. I bet it's just an excuse. We can't outright kill them (might be tricky, at least), so let's do the next best thing. Let them out? But when they come out, they'll be angry, right? Or unchanged? So, won't they just go straight back in?

It seems sick. An injustice. If it weren't the point that these mutants would attack the second they're set free, I'd not let them be frozen in the first place. Not that I could really stop it or anything. Changing the world we live in is one thing, changing the future is another entirely. But I guess that's what we're doing anyway...

It's terrible, but call it idealism. Ransik is almost human. Sure, he's not the prettiest sight, but plenty of people get in accidents, heck, mutation is part of life. The theory of evolution. Why stop it? Somehow, I can rationalize these mutants, these monsters, simply because they don't look human.

I like the sounds of the pigeons. You can barely hear them from down here, but you can. Just the whispers of their voices. They might be flying rats, but they're somehow majestic, in their own way. There's far less of them around than there was before, anyway. Probably due to us effectively stealing their quiet sanctuary. Sorry guys, I guess. If a pigeon did something bad, would it be cryogenically frozen? My guess it would be killed.

It's horrible. Jen said that I didn't ever do anything for anyone else, but isn't it more than that? Any life is precious, no matter the size, shape, color, texture. Everything fears death, even if they won't admit it to themselves. Isn't that what religion is? A way to not fear death? Because death is life.

That's always how I saw it. Yet humans slaughter others all the time. Every human does. Because they like it. Because it's too hard to change. They don't realise it, perhaps, but actions they take results in the death of a being. Can it feel fear?

I felt fear. Cocky. I attacked. I was doing good. But I had no backup. One slip-up. Well, an ambush. I could've died. I came close. Maybe my exterior didn't show it, but inside, I feared it. I feared it. I was lucky. My newfound friends (well, not then, but they are now) saved me. I shouldn't have been so reckless. Nothing was in any real danger, except for many those wads of paper, known as 'money', being spent by a nefarious criminal. I just wanted to play the game.

Condemning others is wrong. You can say there's many sides of the story, that shade of gray that makes good vs evil interesting (although, I personally like Superman overthrowing Lex Luthor with ease), but I just see black.

Will it change anything? Maybe. Will it change anything? Probably not. Will it change anything? No. We're too set in our ways, this humankind. Civilized, they call it. Barbaric, the reality. But nobody cares. Maybe a few people will break the mold, and put themselves to be different, to not take life for granted, but others will stay the same. There's no point to changing, after all. If everyone else thinks it's right, there's no problem.

Don't give into peer pressure. Except, you already are. Whether its joining a clique and acting out-of-character, the food we eat, or the way life is lived; it's all the same. The minor nuances make no real difference. One guy being rich and one guy being poor doesn't mean anything. The same morals, the same actions, the same routinely, unchanging, sticking-to-the-mold life.

This is rich. Thinking about peer pressure, and then, that's what I'm doing, exactly. I'm not going to change, and I'm going to blindly follow these guys. If nothing else, because it feels better. At least something's different. It's a step. But, why does it feel like this is the biggest step I'm going to take.

"Wes?" Jen asked.

She looks hot. No point in denying that. I can't just say that though. Things would get uncomfortable. She's not a girly-girl, or anything like that, so what she picked out was appropriate. Well, maybe a bit too hot for a family movie, but who cares? Of course, right now, she's wearing that bog-standard ugly painter's uniform. Somehow, she pulls it off.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Are you okay? You looked distant."

"Just thinking."

She nods. I've been through a lot in these past few days. I guess she realizes that. Although, I'm sure she doesn't realize what I'm actually thinking about.

The guys wander over. Smiles on their faces. I guess they would be happy. I guess I am, just a little bit. A lot. We did win. It felt good. We saved lives. When evil is evil, it can't go on, otherwise more than one life will be given. One life versus many. It's hard. An eldery man versus a young one? It's hard again. Those questions, I have no shot at resolving. I wouldn't know what to do. Instinct, I guess.

They walk away. Delivery man. Food. I guess that's why they're so excited.

"Jen, Ransik told me his story..."

I pull her away. I want this to be private. I feel I can trust her the most. She'll give me the answer she truly feels. Just what she thinks. Another perspective.

"Of how in rose in an accident at a DNA lab. In a way... I almost feel sorry for him."

She gains a hard look in her eyes. Almost frowning, but it seems more determined than that. "Look, don't let him fool you. People did try and help him, but they turned him away. He wants power, and he'll do anything to get it, and we've got to stop him."

I nod hesitantly. This isn't helping too much. Not really. Did he really refuse help? Even so, wouldn't it be too late when help was offered?

"He's evil. Through and through."

I sigh. Black. He's black. But why does he feel like a would-be angel? My view would be different. Jen's seeking her own kind of revenge. She wouldn't trust him. She wouldn't. But she's my friend. These guys are my friends. I can't betray them, even with my thoughts?

"Okay."

I'm no better than anyone else. I'm no better than the person we're fighting.

We're no better than imperfections.

END

Author's Notes: This was easy to write. The idea was from the end of Time Force episode 4, where Jen seems almost desperate to convince Wes that Ransik is "evil", and Wes seems reluctant to believe or accept it.

Hope y'all enjoy. And please review!


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